ISP - Information Stewardship Policy

Tufts University and members of the University community are expected to responsibly manage and use information in support of research, teaching, service, and administration. All information that is created, collected, licensed, maintained, recorded, used, or managed by the University, its employees, and agents working on its behalf, regardless of ownership or origin, is institutional data. The electronic and physical systems owned or licensed by Tufts University used to store and access institutional data are institutional systems. Members of the Tufts community are expected to responsibly maintain and use institutional data regardless of the resource used to access or store the data — whether an institutional system, a privately owned resource, or a third-party resource. The privacy of the personal information of University community members and clients should be protected.

This policy and suite of accompanying policies, procedures, and resources will help ensure that Tufts’ institutional data and systems are protected from misuse, unauthorized access, damage, alteration, or disclosure, while preserving the ability of authorized individuals to access and use institutional data and systems for appropriate University purposes.

Members of the Tufts community working with or using institutional data and systems in any manner must comply with all federal, Massachusetts, and other applicable laws and regulations; all applicable university policies, procedures, and standards; and all applicable contracts and licenses.

Members of the Tufts community who violate this policy may be denied access to institutional data and systems, and may be subject to other penalties and disciplinary action, both within and outside of the University.

Review Entities

Information Stewardship Committee
Information Technology Advisory Council
Information Technology Leadership Forum
University Library Council
Institutional Compliance Executive Committee

Approval Date

September 15, 2011

Effective Date

September 20, 2011

Executive Sponsor

David Kahle, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer

Policy Managers

University Information Technology
Digital Collections and Archives
University Counsel

Responsible Offices

University Information Technology
Digital Collections and Archives
University Counsel

For general questions, contact infopolicy@tufts.edu.

Revision

The University reserves the right to change this policy from time to time. Proposed changes will normally be developed by the policy managers with appropriate stakeholders. The review entities have sole authority to approve changes to this policy.